Sept 2020 eBay UK Seller Release: Time Away Tool

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eBay are to replace ‘Holiday Settings’ with a new Time Away tool to hide and resurface your listings when you want to schedule a break. It will also be extremely useful as an emergency measure as it will operate almost real-time and reduce any time delay to a minimum which could negatively impact your business.

With Christmas coming, many sellers will be wanting to take a break this year – especially those selling internationally with the UK transition agreement coming to an end over the New Year break. It could also be useful for any sellers forced to self isolate as the pandemic returns over the winter months.

Current eBay Holiday Settings

  • Hide listings from search, so that buyers can no longer find and purchase them
  • Keep listings visible, so that buyers can continue to purchase them but will be notified that you are temporarily away

New eBay Time Away Tool Settings

The new Time Away settings give you new options when planning ahead to take a break from your eBay business or if you have to take a pause unexpectedly.

  • Unlike its predecessor, holiday settings, the Time Away settings are now available to all sellers.
  • With Time Away, you can hide and resurface your listings in almost real-time and reduce any time delay to a minimum which could negatively impact your business.
  • A new scheduling functionality will enable you to plan ahead and prepare well in advance.
  • Estimated delivery dates and dispatch due times will be adjusted when Time Away is scheduled for active listings. This means your buyers will receive realistic dates automatically without you having to manually change the time yourself.
  • Negative feedback related to postage will automatically be removed when Time Away is turned on, provided you post any items by the updated dispatch time. If you need to take unexpected time off, you can set your Time Away to start immediately and within a few hours your dispatch due time will be extended and your listings will be hidden, if you choose that option. It is important to remember to fulfil any prior selling obligations.

The new eBay Time Away tool will be available from the end of September at Account Settings > Selling > Time Away.

8 Responses

  1. The maximum Time Away you can set is …30 days. This may not be long enough if you are being asked to shield , or indeed needing Hospital treatment.
    The previous Holiday setting stayed active until you turned the shop back on… no time limit. Therefore this new Time Away feature is not a fit replacement.
    This is going to cause major problems ifor anyone who “dares” to be ill, or absent from work, for whatever reason, for more than 30 days.
    One big FAIL by ebay.

  2. All they needed to do was automatically adjust the shipping times in Holiday mode.

    Having recently spent 6 weeks bedside in a hospice whilst my partner passed away, my holiday settings gave an explicit explanation as to why I was away and wouldn’t be shipping daily. If you dont mind waiting, please go ahead and buy. Which many did.
    When she did pass away and I emerged from what had been a living hell.. I was confronted by ebay completely screwing my business by removing my TRS “because I hadn’t shipped on time”
    And thanks to a few impatient idiots who ignored the big orange banners everywhere and opened INR cases – in the middle of a pandemic and whilst seller is away, my account is now Below Standard… so effectively I am now “closed” until all this drops off the back end in a couple of months… as I’m not showing up in searches – and now they’ve removed my promotions too… luckily I have another TRS account to use, but it still sucks big time

  3. Oh no. That’s not good ,if we can only close for a maximum of 30 days. This could be a disaster.

  4. Thanks eBay!
    For once something good is coming in.
    I am only ever away at Christmas for just over a week, and instead of ending all my listings (and taking months to relist), I can now just hide them.

  5. Carl. You can hide settings already though, using …Holiday settings.
    The difference with this…time away setting, is that you can only do so for up to 30 days ,whereas previously there was no time limit. Heaven help anyone who will be absent for more than 30 days now. Ebay will just not let you.

  6. It’s 2021 and eBay invented it would be good for sellers (and buyers) that the listings include the “time away” added to the “estimated delivery time” whilst the seller is away and the order won’t be posted *today*.

    I just hope some clever Dom got a medal for this invention. LOL

  7. @Stephen
    No you can’t. You can only do that if you were a business seller or owned a shop.
    For a private seller, this is something new.
    I am thankful for it.

  8. Had holiday settings in place where items were “hidden” from buyers.
    Had a couple of sales today so thought I’d check and you’ve guessed it, with this update my previous holiday settings had been wiped ?

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